 Long in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Theodore Robert Rufus Long (1947-09-15)September 15, 1947 (age 78) Birmingham, Alabama, U.S. |
Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Teddy Long Theodore Long Theodore R. Long[1] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 173 lb (78 kg)[2] |
| Billed from | Atlanta,Georgia[2] |
| Debut | 1985 |
Theodore Robert Rufus Long (born September 15, 1947)[3] is an American formerprofessional wrestlingreferee,manager andauthority figure best known for his tenures inNWA,WCW andWWE.
Long began his career in theNational Wrestling Alliance and made his WWE (then the World Wrestling Federation) debut in 1998 as a referee. He transitioned to be an on-screenmanager in 2003 and later served asGeneral Manager ofSmackDown for two tenures lasting a combined six years as well as a one-year stint asECW General Manager.
In 2017, he was inducted into theWWE Hall of Fame byRon Simmons and John Layfield.[4]
Long started out as an errand boy for wrestlersTommy Rich andAbdullah the Butcher. He eventually became a member of the ringcrew and was promoted to referee in theNWA'sJim Crockett Promotions in 1985 as Teddy Long.[5] In 1989, at theChi-Town Rumble event, Long was the replacement referee whenRicky Steamboat won theNWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Shortly thereafter, Long began to turn into a villainous character when he started to bend the rules forheel wrestlers. On April 2, 1989, atClash of the Champions VI inNew Orleans, Long blatantly made a fast count allowingMike Rotunda and"Dr. Death" Steve Williams to defeatThe Road Warriors for theNWA World Tag Team Championship. After this match, the National Wrestling Alliance relieved Long of his refereeing duties. This was actually a story lifted fromChampionship Wrestling from Florida, where Long had been a referee and did several heel-decisions in the ring, including one forRon Simmons overSkip Young.
Long got his head shaved bald after losing aHair vs Hair match toPaul Ellering atCapital Combat PPV.
While riding withKevin Sullivan andEddie Gilbert, Long would DJ for them. After hearing Long talk, the two convincedJim Ross to give Long amanagerial role, managingNorman the Lunatic.[5] Long became the manager ofDoom (Ron Simmons andButch Reed) and led them to the World Tag Team Titles. He also managedJohnny B. Badd,One Man Gang, Norman the Lunatic,The Skyscrapers (Sid Vicious,Dan Spivey and"Mean" Mark Callous),Marcus Bagwell,2 Cold Scorpio,Joey Maggs,Craig Pittman,Jim Powers,Bobby Walker,Ice Train andBobby Eaton while in Jim Crockett Promotions and WCW.
Long debuted in the WWF as a referee on the December 21, 1998 episode ofRaw is War. Long went by the shortened Teddy Long name during this period. He was a referee at theOver The Edge 1999 PPV, during the match afterOwen Hart's death: a mixed tag match betweenJeff Jarrett/Debra andVal Venis/Nicole Bass. Long was the referee whenDarren Drozdov ended up paralyzed and can be seen in WWE's Don't Try This At Home warning looking at the paramedics lift Droz up on a stretcher. He wrestled in a 3 on 2handicap match withThe Rock andJack Doan defeatingKane andRikishi on Monday Night Raw on January 8, 2001.
By late 2002,Vince McMahon wanted Long to become a heel manager like he was in NWA and WCW and decided to take Long off of television and the road for a while and by late summer 2003, He returned under his full name, and perhaps his most notable managing stint in this period came when managingD'Lo Brown,Rodney Mack,Christopher Nowinski,Rosey,Mark Henry andJazz at different times, telling fans to "Get down wit' da Brown" and to "Back da Mack". Long teamed with Mack and Nowiniski, losing toThe Dudley Boyz atInsurrextion (2003). When he was drafted toSmackDown!, he managedMark Jindrak. On the January 5, 2004 edition ofRaw, he was filling in as the guestGeneral Manager forEric Bischoff. During a match between Mark Henry andRob Van Dam, announcerLilian Garcia had announced that Van Dam had won byDQ in aNo Disqualification Match, but Long grabbed the microphone and ordered to restart the match. Just then,Stone Cold Steve Austin, as the "Sheriff", came out with anATV and chased him around the ring and the arena. After Van Dam won the match, Austin continued to chase Long until he was cornered by both him and Van Dam; in which they pushed Long back into the ring. As he begged Austin not to hurt him, Long offered him a handshake. He accepted it, only to give Long a stunner in the process for restarting the match.
AfterKurt Angle was fired from the general manager position in July 2004, Long became the new and first African-American general manager of SmackDown!. Long immediately turnedface on his first night as general manager when he fined Angle $1,000 for not having his wrestling gear with him.[6] Because of his face turn, his new position saw him giving the fans what they wanted and making matches that put heels at disadvantages, notablyJohn "Bradshaw" Layfield (JBL), a stark contrast to other WWE managers, such as Eric Bischoff andMr. McMahon, who would blatantly favor heels. At first, he continued to use the "Hater-ade" catch phrase he started using as a bad guy, but less aggressively, and with more humor in it. Long would also introduce theNew Talent Initiative during this time, which saw the likes ofBobby Lashley andMr. Kennedy debut in 2005 andMontel Vontavious Porter in 2006, among others.
As part of theSmackDown! vs.Rawfeud, Long defeated Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff atSurvivor Series with the help ofThe Boogeyman.[7]
Long had problems withBooker T and his defense of theUnited States Championship, however, as Booker T attempted to get out of title defenses on a number of occasions by pretending to be injured, and having other wrestlers fight on his behalf. Eventually, Long got tired of these shenanigans, and atNo Way Out, Booker T was told to faceChris Benoit or be stripped of the title.[8] Benoit won the match and was congratulated by Long.[9]
AfterRandy Orton had cheated to obtainRey Mysterio's title shot atWrestleMania 22, Long placed Mysterio back in the match and made it a Triple Threat match, at the same time warning Orton that he could still remove Orton from the match if he disobeyed Long.[10]
AtJudgment Day Long firedMelinaandJohnny Nitro fromSmackDown!.[11] On the followingSmackDown!, JBL suffered the same fate after losing the United States Championship to Bobby Lashley, and then losing aWorld Heavyweight Championship match to Rey Mysterio in his Judgment Day rematch.[12]
On the September 4, 2006 episode ofRaw, Long appeared to a tremendous ovation in his hometown ofAtlanta. During a six-person, intergender tag match between Randy Orton,Edge, andLita againstTrish Stratus,Carlito, andJohn Cena, some fans chanted Theodore's name.[13]
In April 2007, Long became the on-screen boyfriend ofKristal Marshall, after weeks flirting with each other backstage. Long then began to look for an assistant so he could spend more time with Kristal, eventually revealingVickie Guerrero as his new assistant on May 25, 2007, an appointment made partly at Kristal's request.[14] On the June 22 episode ofSmackDown!, Long asked Kristal to marry him. Kristal ran out of the ring, crying, but later agreed to marry him.[15] AtVengeance: Night of Champions, Long appeared after Edge lost a Last Chance match for the World Heavyweight Championship againstBatista via disqualification as a result of a low blow and restarted the match, with the disqualification and countout rule waived. On the July 27 episode ofSmackDown!, Ron Simmons was named thebest man for "Theodore Rufus Long" and Kristal's wedding on the September 21 episode ofSmackDown! emanating from Long's hometown of Atlanta, Georgia.[16] The wedding was not completed, however, due to constant disruptions and Long having aheart attack just as he started to say "I do".[17] He then fell into acoma.[18] The storyline never finished out as planned as Marshall left the WWE shortly afterwards due to creative differences. Long returned on the November 30 episode ofSmackDown! as the assistant general manager and made a match atArmageddon for theWorld Heavyweight Championship.[19] He started to feud with Guerrero over her position as the general manager as she continued to favor Edge. On the May 16, 2008 episode ofSmackDown, Long quit his role of assistant general manager.[20]
On the June 3 episode ofECW, it was announced that Long had become the new general manager of the ECWbrand by order of the WWE board of directors.[21] Long continued theNew Talent Initiative, with a name-change to theNew Superstar Initiative, which would see the debuts ofSheamus,Jack Swagger,Kofi Kingston,Evan Bourne,Tyler Reks,Trent Baretta,Caylen Croft,DJ Gabriel,Ricky Ortiz,Gavin Spears,Braden Walker and ECW referee Aaron Davis.
On the April 7, 2009 episode ofECW, Long announced he was returning to SmackDown as general manager, withTiffany replacing him onECW.[22] By doing this, he became the first person in the history of the company to have a second term as general manager. He made his official return toSmackDown on April 10, when he announced thatthe Hardys (Matt andJeff) would face each other in the first-everstretcher match inSmackDown history.[23]
At theBreaking Point PPV, Long restarted the World Heavyweight Championship match betweenCM Punk andThe Undertaker after The Undertaker made Punk submit using hisHell's Gate submission finisher, stating that the ban on the maneuver was still in effect.[24] On the September 18 episode ofSmackDown, WWE chairman Mr. McMahon instructed Long to go down to the ring and explain his actions regarding the conclusion of the World Heavyweight ChampionshipSubmission match between champion CM Punk and The Undertaker in which Long, as well as refereeScott Armstrong and CM Punk played key roles in recreating the infamousMontreal Screwjob at Breaking Point (held at theBell Centre inMontreal,Quebec, Canada, site of the1997 fiasco), this time, with The Undertaker being the target of a planned conspiracy. As he returned from the ring to the back stage area, he entered his waitinglimousine only to be kidnapped by The Undertaker, who was in the driver's seat.[25] The following week onSmackDown Long was brought into the arena inside acoffin by The Undertaker'sdruids where he again legalized The Undertaker's Hell's Gate submission hold.[26] Long made a guest appearance on the February 8, 2010 episode ofRaw, in whichShawn Michaels performed his finishing maneuverSweet Chin Music on Long after Long refused to draft Michaels to SmackDown.[27] He then began a feud withDrew McIntyre, the first part of which revolved around McIntyre qualifying for theMoney in the Bank ladder match atWrestleMania XXVI, which was instead won by Jack Swagger. On the May 7 episode ofSmackDown, after McIntyre brutally assaulted Matt Hardy, Long stripped McIntyre of hisIntercontinental Championship and fired him. As a result, the Intercontinental Championship was vacant. Thus, Long issued the Intercontinental Championship tournament involvingChristian, Kofi Kingston,Cody Rhodes andDolph Ziggler.[28] However, after Kingston emerged victorious against Christian, Long was issued a letter from Vince McMahon reinstating McIntyre and forcing Kingston to give his title back to McIntyre.[29] He then made a match for McIntyre's Intercontinental Championship atOver the Limit against Kofi Kingston.
On the May 28 episode ofSmackDown, Long read a letter from Mr. McMahon's office given to him by Drew McIntyre which stated that Matt Hardy was suspended until further notice after Hardy attacked McIntyre at Over the Limit and told Hardy not to go near McIntyre and if he did so, Long would be fired as the general manager of SmackDown.[30]
On the June 11 episode ofSmackDown, a frustrated McIntyre announced a match between Long and McIntyre would take place the following week onSmackDown per orders of McMahon. McIntyre said if Long didn't compete, he would be fired.[31] McIntyre then went on to win the match the following week, after it was ordered that Long had get down on his knees, proclaim Drew as "The Chosen One" and then lay on his back and let McIntyre pin him without a fight.[32] On the June 25 episode ofSmackDown, Long reinstated Hardy and made McIntyre compete against the returning Hardy. Hardy would win the match, but after the match, Long came out and told McIntyre that his work visa had expired, and made security carry him out of the arena.[33] On the July 9 edition ofSmackDown, McIntyre was reinstated and pleaded forgiveness from Long, even going so far as to nominate Long as a member of theWWE Hall of Fame as well as get on his knees and proclaim Long "the best boss he ever had." Long, however, did not believe him and announced a Money in the Bank qualifying match (for the upcomingMoney in the Bank pay-per-view) against Kofi Kingston.[34]
On the January 21, 2011 episode ofSmackDown, Long was found (kayfabe) unconscious in his office, suffering a head injury.[35] He returned on the February 18 episode ofSmackDown, where he revealed Vickie Guerrero and Dolph Ziggler to have attacked him. He then scheduled a match between the new World Heavyweight Champion Ziggler and Edge. Edge would win the match, becoming an eleven-time world champion. After the match, Long would then fire Ziggler.[36] The following week, he fired Guerrero after she lost a mixed tag team match.[37]
On the May 6 episode ofSmackDown, Long scheduled a World Heavyweight Championship match between Randy Orton and Christian who had just won it for the first time five nights prior atExtreme Rules.[38] On the June 3 episode ofSmackDown, Christian was chosen by Long as the special guest referee for a World Heavyweight Championship match between Orton and Sheamus who beat Christian and Mark Henry in a triple threat number one contender's match for the title the week before. Christian would turn heel by hitting Orton with the title he had retained,[39] and lost to Orton again atCapitol Punishment despite his foot being under the bottom rope.[40] Christian blamed Long and as a result Long scheduled Orton to defend his title against Christian atMoney in the Bank. Christian would manage to find a way to include a clause that if Orton were to get disqualified, the title would switch hands.
On the July 29 episode ofSmackDown the newCOOTriple H madeZack Ryder Theodore Long's new Assistant.[41]
On the November 25, 2011 episode ofSmackDown, afterDaniel Bryan seemingly successfully cashed in the SmackDown Money in the Bank briefcase on Mark Henry to win his first World Heavyweight Championship, Long rushed down to the ring and declared the title change void, as Mark Henry had not yet been medically cleared to compete in an official match. He would schedule Bryan in a fatal four-way match against Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes andWade Barrett to determine the number one contender for Henry's title which would be defended on the November 29 episode ofSmackDown in a steel cage match.[42]
AfterTLC: Tables, Ladders, and Chairs,Santino Marella replaced Zack Ryder (who had just won his first United States Championship) as the assistant SmackDown general manager.[43]
On February 21, 2012, Long was criticized by Interim Raw General ManagerJohn Laurinaitis,[44] which prompted the WWE board of directors to switch the general managers of their respective shows for one week.[45] Long took charge of the March 5 episode ofRaw,[46] with Laurinaitis taking charge of the March 9 edition ofSmackDown. During Laurinaitis' time in charge ofSmackDown, he set up a match between himself and Long, where, if Long lost,Aksana, Long's girlfriend, would be placed in a match with Kane. Long won the match when Randy Orton attacked Kane at ringside, which distracted Laurinaitis. The Aksana-Kane match never took place.[47]
A 12-man Tag Team match was then set up atWrestleMania XXVIII, where six superstars would represent both general managers. Long chose Santino Marella as his team captain, along with Kofi Kingston,R-Truth, Zack Ryder,The Great Khali and Booker T over the following weeks. A stipulation was added that the winning team at WrestleMania would determine who would become the general manager of both shows. At WrestleMania, Team Teddy lost to Team Johnny, ending Long's run as SmackDown General Manager.[48]
On the April 6 edition ofSmackDown, Long prepared to give his farewell speech, but Laurinaitis threatened to discontinue a trust fund Long had set up for his grandchildren's college education unless he took a job as his new assistant, to which Long reluctantly accepted.[49]
Laurinaitis hired the evilEve Torres to be his Executive Administrator, and informed Long that he would now be working under Eve and would report to her. As Eve's subordinate, the next few weeks were hell for Long. Eve found the role to be a power trip and enjoyed abusing her position by bullying and humiliating Long on numerous occasions. She took great pleasure in humiliating him by forcing him to do menial, degrading tasks; such as making him wear an apron and name tag at all times, like a maid. As well as stand guard by a door dressed as a Queen's soldier. She also enjoyed ordering him to get her coffee, and would throw the coffee all over him if it wasn't to her satisfaction. Long was also forced by Eve to rub oil onAntonio Cesaro for a photoshoot, this was particularly humiliating for Long as it was in front of his ex love interest (and Cesaro's girlfriend) Aksana, who seemed to find Long's predicament extremely entertaining.
AtExtreme Rules, he was criticized for spinning a wheel to determine what match Cody Rhodes andBig Show would face off in by making it a tables match.[50] AtOver the Limit he mockedDavid Otunga and Eve Torres ahead of Laurinaitis' bout with John Cena which if he lost he would be fired. This further angered Laurinaitis who defeated Cena to keep his job with help from Big Show.[51] AtNo Way Out, Laurinaitis was fired,[52] and Long enjoyed watching him being attacked by John Cena the following night onRaw.[53]
After Laurinaitis' firing as general manager, Long served as guest general manager for bothRaw andSmackDown on July 2 and July 3 respectively. On the August 3 edition ofSmackDown, Long was made the senior advisor to new SmackDown General Manager Booker T. Despite originally getting along with Booker T very well, beginning in March 2013, Booker T began to get angry at Long for booking matches without his permission on both Raw and SmackDown. However, from mid April onwards, Long began runningSmackDown again temporarily with Booker T away due to surgery. On the July 19 episode ofSmackDown, after the returning Booker T and Raw General ManagerBrad Maddox had an argument on who was to be SmackDown General Manager, Mr. McMahon came out to say Vickie Guerrero was named SmackDown's new general manager. After a backstage segment, with Guerrero, Long was escorted out by a security team. This marked his last appearance as a major authoritative figure.
On June 12, 2014, after nearly a year of inactivity, Long was released from WWE along with ten other contracts, ending his long tenure with the company.[54]
On October 10 for the 15th Anniversary ofSmackDown, Long made a surprise appearance; getting into an argument with John Laurinaitis. This led to a 16-man Tag Team match, in which Team Teddy (Sheamus, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger,The Usos,Los Matadores andEl Torito) defeated Team Johnny (Cesaro,Gold and Stardust,Bo Dallas,Damien Mizdow,Heath Slater,Titus O'Neil andHornswoggle).
After the announcement of the restored WWE brand extension, on the June 6, 2016 episode ofRaw, Long returned in the opening segment between theMoney in the Bank participants, requesting another run as general manager of SmackDown, only to be turned away byStephanie McMahon. He would make several other appearances throughout the course of the night including his attempt of making a tag team match between The Golden Truth (Goldust and R-Truth) and Breezango (Tyler Breeze andFandango) before being escorted out of the building by security.[55]
On February 13, 2017, it was announced that he would be inducted in the 2017WWE Hall of Fame.[56] On the April 3, 2017 episode ofRaw, Long made an appearance, thinking that Mr. McMahon would appoint him to be the new general manager of Raw, but McMahon said that it was not him; instead, Vince chose Kurt Angle, another 2017 WWE Hall of Fame inductee, as general manager. On January 22, 2018, Long made a brief backstage appearance duringRaw 25 Years.
Long also made an appearance on the January 4, 2021 episode ofRaw under theRaw Legends Night special wherein he announced that he bookedThe MizandJohn Morrison in a tag-team match againstThe New Day, in which the latter won,[57] He also appeared on the special throwback episode ofSmackDown on May 7, 2021.
On January 23, 2023, Long appeared onRaw is XXX, celebrating the 30th anniversary ofMonday Night Raw, where he booked a six-man tag match betweenSeth Rollins withThe Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) andImperium (Gunther,Ludwig Kaiser andGiovanni Vinci), after Imperium disrespectedD-Generation X.[58]
On April 26, 2024, Long was seen as part of SmackDown backstage team during the2024 WWE Draft.
In 2014, Booker T had announced that Long would serve as the general manager for hisReality of Wrestling promotion's Summer of Champions iPPV.[59]
Teddy Long acted as the general manager forSWE Fury, a nationally televised wrestling promotion based inPlano, Texas.[60] Long left the company in August 2021.[61]
From 2021 to present, Long has worked as commissioner forAlabama Independent promotions Main Event Wrestling and Independent Wrestling Network.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | The Mugshot Madness | Himself | main cast |
Long was married to his wife Tasha Long for forty years. They remained married until her death in September 2022.[62][63][64][65]
On July 7, 2025, his son Antione Long died.[66]
Long is well known for his variouscatchphrases while portraying an authority figure, most notably tellingvillainous wrestlers to go “one on one withThe Undertaker!”, his trademark “Holla, holla, holla!”, hispeacemaking “(Now) hold on just a minute playa!” and hiskayfabe obsession for placing wrestlers in a “tag team match!”.
,Cagematch,Internet Wrestling Database
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